Sod calculator
A 50 by 20 lawn with 120 of patio and beds leaves 880 to cover, which is 88 rolls on 2 pallets: the calculator subtracts every obstacle before counting turf. Free in your browser.
- Free
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
- Your data stays on your device
Run — free
Worked example
- Length
- 50
- Width
- 20
- Obstacles
- 80, 40
- Roll area
- 10
- Rolls per pallet
- 50
- Lawn area
- 1,000
- Obstacle area
- 120
- Area
- 880
- Rolls
- 88
Sod is live turf sold by the roll or the pallet, and the amount you actually need is the plantable lawn, not the lot outline. This sod calculator multiplies lawn length by width, subtracts every obstacle area you list — patios, beds, sheds, play-equipment pads, pool decks — and converts the remaining net area into whole sod rolls plus the pallets those rolls occupy at a stated packing. Negative length, width, or obstacle area is rejected, and a net that would fall below zero when obstacles overflow the rectangle is also rejected.
How net sod area is computed from the lawn rectangle
A rectangular lawn has a gross area equal to length times width, but that rectangle is almost never the patch you actually sod. Patios, gravel beds, sheds, air-conditioner pads, pool decks, and walkways sit inside the same outline and must be subtracted before you buy turf. This sod calculator starts from those two edge measurements, multiplies them to obtain the gross lawn area, then subtracts every obstacle area you supply.
The remainder is the net plantable area: the only quantity that should drive a roll count. If you omit the obstacle list, the net equals the rectangle, which is correct for an empty lot and wrong for a backyard that already has a slab. Each obstacle is an area in the same square unit as length times width — square feet when you measured in feet, square metres when you measured in metres — not a linear leftover.
Adding a ten-by-eight patio therefore means subtracting eighty, not ten or eight. Measure the two edges twice if the lot is slightly out of square, use the smaller pair when you are unsure, and still subtract every hard surface you will not cover with turf.
Who measures lawns with this calculator
Homeowners use a sod landing when they have a tape measure and a patio they can sketch, not a surveyor's certified area. Landscape crews walk a lot, write length and width plus a handful of slab sizes, and need rolls and pallets before they leave for the supplier. Garden-center counters can keep the free form open and change only the obstacle list when a customer remembers the deck.
Pair rolls with your supplier unit price to produce a line item, then re-run if the crew measures a different length after removing old turf or if a new bed is cut. For irregular polygons, break the yard into rectangles or compute the outline area elsewhere, then still subtract obstacles here so the packing step stays one contract.
What you can do with it
Backyard with a patio and beds
Measure lawn length and width, subtract the patio and garden-bed areas, and order whole sod rolls plus pallets for a weekend install.
New-build lot with pads and a walkway
Take the rectangle of a new yard, subtract the air-conditioner pad, stoop, and walk, then convert the net area into a supplier pallet count.
Crew tickets and counter quotes
Post the same length, width, and obstacle list from a tablet or an estimating script so every quote uses one net-area-to-roll figure.
FAQ
What counts as an obstacle area?
Any patch inside the lawn rectangle you will not cover: patio, bed, shed footprint, pool deck, walkway, or equipment pad. Enter each as an area in the same square units as length times width.
What happens if an area is negative?
Negative length, width, or obstacle area is rejected, and a net below zero (obstacles larger than the lawn) is rejected the same way. Those failures are not billed.
What is the default roll size and pallet packing?
Override both to match the product tag and the supplier packing slip.
How many sod rolls do I need for a 50 by 20 lawn with a patio?
With 120 of obstacles subtracted from the 1000 gross area, 880 remain; at 10 per roll that is 88 rolls, which fit on 2 pallets of 50 rolls each.
Should I measure obstacles in feet or in square feet?
In square units. Each obstacle is an area in the same unit as length times width, so a ten-by-eight patio means subtracting eighty square feet, not ten or eight.
Related tools
For developers — API access
Everything on this page is available programmatically. This section is for teams who want to wire it into their own systems; everyone else can just use the tool above.
API endpoint
Prefer to automate it? One authenticated POST creates the task; the result comes back by webhook or a signed link. The same capability also runs here on the web, by email and from Telegram — and soon from our app too.
Call it from your stack
curl -X POST https://api.kit.forhosting.com/bio/sod \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $KIT_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"length":50,"width":20}'const res = await fetch("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/bio/sod", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.KIT_KEY}`,
"Content-Type": "application/json"
},
body: JSON.stringify({
"length": 50,
"width": 20
})
});
const { task_id } = await res.json();import os, requests
res = requests.post(
"https://api.kit.forhosting.com/bio/sod",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['KIT_KEY']}"},
json={
"length": 50,
"width": 20
},
)
task_id = res.json()["task_id"]<?php
$res = file_get_contents("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/bio/sod", false, stream_context_create([
"http" => [
"method" => "POST",
"header" => "Authorization: Bearer " . getenv("KIT_KEY") . "\r\nContent-Type: application/json",
"content" => '{"length":50,"width":20}',
],
]));
$task = json_decode($res, true);body := bytes.NewBufferString(`{"length":50,"width":20}`)
req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/bio/sod", body)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("KIT_KEY"))
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)Example request
{
"length": 50,
"width": 20
}Example response
{
"task_id": "tsk_a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6",
"type": "bio.sod",
"status": "queued",
"_links": {
"result": "/tasks/tsk_…/result"
}
}The API is asynchronous: the call returns a task_id immediately and the result arrives by webhook. Polling is capped at 1 req/s per task.
Pricing
Published price — no tokens, no invented credits. A failed task is never charged.
Errors
| HTTP | Code | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
401 | unauthorized | Missing or invalid API key. |
402 | insufficient_balance | Your balance doesn't cover the task price. |
404 | unknown_type | That task type doesn't exist. |
429 | rate_limited | Too many requests. Use the webhook instead of polling. |
Technical notes
Inputs, rolls, pallets, and errors when an area is negative
Length and width must be strictly positive; zero would describe a line, not a lawn. Keep every number in one unit system: do not mix feet of length with square metres of obstacle, because the ratio would then be meaningless. Send two required finite numbers, length and width, plus an optional obstacles array of non-negative areas, an optional roll_area defaulting to ten, and an optional rolls_per_pallet defaulting to fifty. Each field may arrive as a JSON number or as a numeric string. A single obstacle_area number is also accepted and is added to the list, which helps a simple form that only has one patio field. Missing length or width, non-finite values, and empty strings fail with invalid_input naming the field. Any negative length, width, or obstacle area fails with a message that the area is negative; if the sum of obstacles exceeds the rectangle, the net sod area is negative and that is also invalid_input. Those failures are not billed. On success the body echoes the cleaned length and width, the gross lawn_area, the total obstacle_area subtracted, the net area, the roll_area used, the integer rolls as the ceiling of net area divided by roll area, the rolls_per_pallet packing, the integer pallets as the ceiling of rolls divided by that packing, the coverage those whole rolls represent, leftover coverage above the net need, and a short formula string. Example: length fifty, width twenty, obstacles eighty and forty, roll_area ten yields a thousand square units of lawn, one hundred twenty subtracted, eight hundred eighty net, eighty-eight rolls, and two pallets at fifty rolls per pallet.
Where a sod quantity API earns its keep
Estimating apps and property-management scripts can post the same JSON for dozens of rectangular lots and attach the returned rolls to a purchase order. The published API price is $0.002 per successful item; failed validation does not consume prepaid balance.
Technical questions
How does this sod tool compute how much turf I need?
It multiplies lawn length by width, subtracts every obstacle area, then takes the ceiling of that net area divided by roll_area. Pallets are the ceiling of rolls divided by rolls_per_pallet.
Is the sod calculator free, and what does the API cost?
The in-browser tool is free and runs locally. API usage is prepaid KIT balance at $0.002 per successful request. Invalid input fails without charge.